What Are They Thinking? 1

The more time that I spend with teenagers, the more I'm certain that the world has it wrong. There seems to be some blanket stereotype that teens are only concerned with themselves. Many adults think (wrongly) that this age group is interested in just a few things. Things like celebrity, music, and movies do interest this group by-and-large.

Teens are just as diverse, however, as adults are. They normally adopt some of the same interests that their parents do. This doesn't mean that they come to the same conclusions about current issues. It simply means that if you aren't a well-rounded parent, it's hard to expect your children to be. The influence that you have and the example that you set does matter.

From a bit of recent research, I found some intriguing topics that teens said they thought about regularly. Here are some of these topics:

* 2012 Presidential Election
* Results of Raising the Debt Ceiling
* Funding for School Budgets

These topics include issues that will impact the future of teens. Not only do they listen to news outlets for this information, they discuss it with each other. There are many deep thinkers in the millions of teenagers in our country. These are individuals that are multi-faceted, talented, and engaged. We need to take advantage of this and mature the art of conversation in them. Be a sounding board, and you'll be surprised at what you'll hear.